How AmCham China Found a Home in naked Hub’s New Sanlitun Centre Sponsored Feature

When the American Chamber of Commerce in China decided to move its Beijing headquarters, the organisation that represents 900 American companies across the mainland chose a co-working centre for its new home in the Chinese capital.

This past January, AmCham China relocated from a traditional office address to a new facility operated by flexible office brand naked Hub. The non-profit and its sister organisations now have about 70 people working in the space that opened at the start of the year in the trendy retail and lifestyle district of Sanlitun.

While shared office spaces first gained traction among freelancers and small businesses looking to save on rental costs, the rapidly growing sector is now catering to larger organisations with more sophisticated needs. AmCham China’s agreement with naked Hub gives the chamber half a floor of dedicated office, meeting and event space, as well as preferential access to a range of shared facilities within the three-storey centre – providing an ideal venue for the organisation that hosts more than 250 events each year.

“Our move to Sanlitun is immensely significant for the chamber, allowing us to embrace the spirit of innovation and collaboration that the naked Hub space provides,” said Alan Beebe, President of AmCham China. “We’re not just moving offices, we’re redefining the environment in which the organization operates.”

Providing Meeting Facilities for 3,300 Group Members

Key to creating an efficient collaboration space for the 3,300 member non-profit organisation was the ability to combine staff offices with on-site, on-demand meeting facilities while also providing access to amenities more often associated with high-end health clubs than business networking groups.

naked Hub Sanlitun takes up the third through fifth floors of Pacific Century Place, a recently refurbished office and retail complex on Workers’ Stadium North Road, located one block west of the Tuanjiehu station of metro line 10. AmCham China and its affiliated programs, such as the US-China Agriculture and Food Partnership, occupy half of the 1,700 square metre third floor, including desks, meeting rooms and event rooms for the chamber’s exclusive use.

The chamber has more than 50 working groups which meet frequently in its offices in addition to having more than a dozen major events scheduled during the month of May alone. Compared to its former home in a traditional office building on Jintong Xi Lu, being in naked Hub Sanlitun gives the independent non-profit preferential access to event space for up to 200 people in the 4,700 square metre centre space, without having to pay rent for facilities that are not in constant use.

The flexible office arrangement provides the chamber with on-site venues for its talks on government policies, training sessions and leadership development seminars, while also having smaller spaces available for networking lunches and round table discussions.

The chamber, which runs a robust sports program, also enjoys access to facilities on the fourth and fifth floors, including a gym, sauna and swimming pool.

Non-Profits Switch on to Flexible Office Options

While originally associated with high tech startups and freelancers, naked Hub welcomes the addition of non-government associations such as AmCham China to its shared office community.

“Our unique community of independent workers, SMEs, and MNCs will benefit from the addition of our very first Chamber of Commerce tenant, and the diversification of our Hubber base,” said Jonathan Seliger, CEO of naked Hub.

In addition to AmCham China, naked Hub also hosts the China chapter of Green Business Certification Inc (GBCI), an NGO which administers the LEED green building rating system.

GBCI China recently opened a Shanghai office in a naked Hub workspace in Xintiandi, the downtown shopping and nightlife district. naked Hub has committed to achieving the LEED certification for all of its future co-working spaces and platforms in China, as part of a strategic partnership with the US Green Building Council (USGBC) forged in March.

Startup Phenomenon Becomes a Mainstream Trend

These tie-ups with NGOs come as many Asian co-working providers roll out spaces geared toward larger organisations. Twenty-seven percent of co-working spaces in Asia focus on tenants with 10 to 100 employees, compared to nine percent globally, according to the 2018 Global Coworking Survey by online magazine DeskmagOver. And some eight percent of Asian operators cater directly to companies with more than 100 staff – twice the global average, the survey shows.

naked Hub’s growing member portfolio across Asia ranges from startups such as social dining app BonApp and e-commerce platform Heyshop, to large companies such as top Chinese content platform Douban and US camera brand GoPro.

Founded in 2015 by luxury resort brand naked Group, naked Hub has swiftly built up a network of 50 premium co-working locations open or in development across China and overseas. The company was acquired by US co-working giant WeWork in April.

naked Hub Sanlitun in Pictures

This sponsored feature was created on behalf of naked Hub. For more information, please visit www.nakedhub.com